


Enchiladas

by Tabbyluna



Series: Portal Master OC Stuff [1]
Category: Skylanders (Video Games)
Genre: Cooking, Family, Gen, Homesickness, Male-Female Friendship, Mexican Character, Portal Masters, Post-Spyro's Adventure, Pre-Giants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:09:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27472540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabbyluna/pseuds/Tabbyluna
Summary: Cielo Vasquez loved being a Portal Master. But admittedly, she was feeling rather homesick being in Skylands for so long. But hopefully, a friendship with an ally might make her feel a little better about her situation.
Relationships: Flynn & OC (Skylanders)
Series: Portal Master OC Stuff [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2014237
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	Enchiladas

**Author's Note:**

> Someone in the Discord had a headcanon that most of the Portal Masters were Latin American, and that was how enchiladas arrived at Skylands. So I took it and decided to make a story out of it, because that's what I do.

Cielo liked being a Portal Master. It just seemed natural that she would love being one. Since young, she’d always loved fantasy and adventure. As a child, she would devour countless books about dragons and elves and far-off lands. She was fine with books which took place in reality, but if she ever had to choose between a book about a normal girl advertised as being just like her, or a book featuring fairies going on adventures in the magical woods, she would always go with the magic.

Her Mama was glad that she was a good daughter; reading, making good grades. Frequently, her little sister was compared to her, since Sonia was a bit more of a rowdy tomboy, preferring to play football than read or study. But secretly, Cielo always did wish she could make friends as easily as Sonia did. In school, she never really talked much with the other kids. Instead, she buried herself in her books, wishing that she could pluck up the courage to talk to them. Courage that the heroes of such stories always seemed to have, but she never seemed to pick up.

She hoped to someday pick up that courage. It was one of her biggest dreams. But she never quite picked it up until one fateful day.

One day, while on her way home from school, she found them. Hidden away under a tree. Four figurines. They were Air Skylanders, but she didn’t know it at the time. At the time, she just assumed they were strange toys. 

They were… a Unicorn? Or was she a dragon. Oh, that one’s definitely some sort of griffon. That one looked like Zeus from Greek Mythology. And the other one… was it a rhinoceros or a turtle? Curious, she reached out to touch them. To try and get a closer look.

And when she did, she ended up transporting them to Skylands.

This was how she found out that she was a Portal Master. Master Eon in spirit form materialised in front of her, and the rest was history. She went on a crazy adventure with not only the Skylanders, but also several other Portal Masters. Finding the missing pieces to the core of light. Fighting baddies. Learning to control their magical powers. All the things fantasy protagonists in her books did.

Over time, thanks to those adventures, she started coming out of her shell, and befriending people. Truly befriending them, beyond just sitting next to them during recess, or doing school projects together. She got to know them all, talk to them, laugh and cry and share victories with them. 

When they launched Kaos away, banishing him from the Skylands as payback for what they did to them, they all cheered and celebrated together. To Cielo, the feeling of unity as she cheered with them was the best part. Skylanders, Portal Masters, allies, it was probably the first time in her life where she felt heavily connected to anyone outside of her family. They all meant the world to her.

But even though she did love her friends, she did very much miss her family.

While they were figuring out how to get back to Earth, everyone decided to take the time to sit back and relax. Have some fun exploring Skylands. And for the first two weeks, things were all fine and good. She had fun. Exploring islands. Playing games. Even experimenting with fashion with the others who were interested in that sort of thing. It was never something she thought much of back home, but it was fun to try things out with nice people. Seeing what her long, black, wavy hair looked like when worn in different ways, or seeing what certain shades of makeup looked like on her medium brown skin, or what certain styles of clothing looked like on her petite body.

But then, Cielo grew bored. And the homesickness which she had been trying so hard to fight suddenly became so powerful, it overwhelmed her. And like most of the homesickness in stories which she read about, she knew there would be no good permanent cure until she could finally return home for real.

*****

She wondered if it had something to do with missing the culture she was familiar with, as much as it had to do with missing her family. Most of the Portal Masters were of Latin American descent, just like she was. There were a few who were black or white without being Latino, but a good majority of the Portal Masters were Latin American. It was just how things turned out.

But the difference, Cielo soon came to realise, was that pretty much all of them were also  _ Americans _ . Pretty much all the Portal Masters came from New Mexico or Texas. There was Alex - he was white without being Latino and he came from Colorado. But that was it. She and Alex were the only ones not from either of those two American states. And she was the only non-American in the group. 

There were things she could bond with them over, certainly. Universal things, like love for adventure and freedom, like strong senses of justice, like heroic spirits and courageous feats. That was how they became friends. But at the end of the day, besides being heroes, they were all just normal kids. And while there were plenty of childhood experiences which they all managed to bond over, sometimes, they would all connect with something that was so American that she felt somewhat left out as a foreigner.

She missed her family. Her Mama and Papa and Sonia, as well as all her Tita, her aunts and uncles and cousins. She missed her home city of Saltillo, she missed Mexico. When she was still in Mexico, she dreamed of going to far-off lands and exploring them. But she was now in a far-off land. And now, she found herself missing the land which she came from. In the past, she found it silly that Dorothy could ever miss a place she used to describe as dull. But now that she was away from her hometown, she felt like she had finally understood what she meant.

When she came to Skylands, she was still wearing her uniform from the private Catholic school she and Sonia attended. And sometimes, she would slip out of her Portal Master’s robes or her armour, and put the uniform back on just to feel like she was back at home. It was sad, but the uniform at least smelled like home. The strong smell of the washing power Mama used stuck to it, like a memento of what she wanted most right then and there.

*****

Eventually, she started cooking. A lot. Because it was something her family did together often. After church, during family gatherings, with her parents, her aunts and uncles, and her cousins all crammed into one kitchen together. Cooking was something the family loved to do together. And it felt weird cooking by herself, but it would do for now.

It felt good to cook some recipes she was familiar with, since she wasn’t really a big fan of the Americanized dishes the other Portal Masters made. They were  _ fine _ , they just didn’t have that special  _ something _ she liked about the Mexican cuisine she was familiar with. She tried to cook them, referring only to her memory, using whatever ingredients she had available. It wasn’t exactly the same, but it was close enough. And it did help to keep that dreadful feeling of homesickness away. At least for a while.

And one day, Flynn came into the kitchen while she was making some enchiladas.

“Whatcha doing?” He asked, leaning against the counter curiously.

“Cooking,” she answered without looking up. Cielo was usually very serious about getting recipes just right, but she liked talking to people while she cooked. She missed it a lot, actually. It happened all the time back home.

She’d spend quite a bit of time with Flynn, mostly because she’d identified most with the Air element, just like he did. He was a bit - no, a lot - of a braggart. But over time, she grew used to him. And she had to admit, him telling stories of his heroics like that had a certain charm. Like a little kid who wants someone he admires to like him. 

So, she usually listened while he talked. 

That day, he told her the story about how he braved a hectic rain storm while bringing the Skylanders to a kid’s birthday party. The kid’s parents had wanted some to show up at his party, and being the  _ heroes _ that they were, they weren’t ones to turn down such a request. 

Along the way, they got swept up in a storm. And they would have all perished, if it weren’t for the  _ brave Captain Flynn _ , and his  _ masterful piloting abilities.  _ “I got us to that birthday party, with ive minutes to spare! The parents offered us five bucks and a slice of birthday cake each for our troubles. Which, honestly, was pretty worth it in my humble opinion.”

Cielo chuckled. “That sounded like quite the adventure. I’m glad you all made it out safe.”

Flynn grinned, all wry and proud of himself. “Yeah, well. Just another day in the life of the old Flynster. No big deal, really.”

“Still,” she said. She was almost done, just… and done! “You should be proud of your achievements.” She walked over to the sink to wash her hands. It was always so satisfying to clean her hands after cooking. Washing off flour or sauce or whatever from her hands. It was like a sign that the hard work was done, and she could finally relax. 

“Hey, I guess I should.” Flynn turned to look at the food on the table. “Hey, anyways, what’s that?”   


“Oh, this?” Cielo picked up the plate. “These are enchiladas.”

Flynn looked at them, eyes wide. “Well, they smell delicious.”

“Would you like one, Flynn?” She asked. 

“Would I!" Went Flynn, and he picked one up, and took a bite out of it before Cielo could remind him to wash his hands. Ah well…

Seeing his face light up was worth not asking him to wash his hands. “Wowzers! This is delicious!”

Cielo chuckled, glad to get some praise for her cooking. “I’m glad you like it, Flynn!” She said. 

He took another big bite, and then another one. “Oh, yeah! Any chance that you’d be making more of these enchiladas in the future?”   


Cielo enjoyed seeing his reaction, and was suddenly reminded of the happy reactions of her family eating together after preparing a meal. Laughing, talking, glad to just gather together and enjoy each other’s company. It was the core of what she missed about home. The togetherness, the bonding, that was what she wanted again.

And an idea came to her.    


“Honestly, yeah. I think I would be making more enchiladas in the future. But… on one condition.”

Flynn turned to her, listening closely.

Cielo smiled. “Just come by the kitchen and talk to me while I cook. And when I’m done, I promise that you can have as many enchiladas as you want. I’ll also be cooking other Mexican dishes from time to time too, so you can look forward to that.”

Flynn grinned, and finished up his enchiladas. “If that’s all I need to do to get more of this stuff, I’ll gladly come by to talk to you every day.”

Cielo reached her hand out, and Flynn shook it. “I’m glad we have a deal,” she said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to do my research for this. I would like to thank WritingWithColor for giving some heads-ups on what stereotypes to avoid, and for what Mexicans would like to see more of in Mexican characters in media. I hope I managed to portray her respectfully. If I did anything terribly wrong, please inform me so that I can try again in the future. Thank you.
> 
> While I'm not Mexican, I am a WOC non-American. And yeah, because the English-speaking internet is very American, sometimes things do get a little alienating. It's not anyone's fault, it's just that some experiences aren't very universal. *shrugs*


End file.
